Divided last.



N0 MODEL.

PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904. E. S. BEACH.

DIVIDED LAST.

APPLIGATION FILED MAR. 10, 1902.

== iiilliuPf NITED Snares Patented March 2 2, 1904.

arnnr rrion.

EDWARD S. BEACH, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO TYLER HINGED LAST COMPANY, OF CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA, AND BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF WVEST VIRGINIA.

DIVIDED LAST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,559, dated March 22, 1904.

Application filed March 10, 1902.

T aJ/Z whom it may concern:

Be it known thatLEDwARD S. BEACH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brookline, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Divided Lasts, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a transverselydivided last containing my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a side view of a divided last provided with a modified form of the spring connection shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a part of the last being in sec- 5 tion at line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a side view of one of the guide-plugs.

The object of my invention is to produce a cheaply-constructed and efficient divided last, the fore part and heel part whereof are united by a spring which connects said parts, normally holds them with their bottoms in alinement, permits the last to shorten when its heel part is tipped up in relation to the fore part, or vice versa, automatically returns either of 5 said parts into alinement with the other when either is released after being tipped up, and is preferably combined with said parts in such wise that when either is tipped up or moved down into alinement the flexing portion of 3 the spring is of considerable extent and free to move, whereby the durability and efiiciency of the spring connecting member are preserved at the maximum.

In the drawings, 1 is the fore part, 2 the heel part, 3 the top recess, and A 5 the inner ends of the fore part and heel part, which when said parts are in alinement abut from below the bottom of recess 3 to the bottom of the last, all the foregoing being old and well 4 known to all skilled in the art. The function of the top recess is to permit one of said parts to be tipped up in relation to the other of said parts, and the function of the abutment of the inner ends of said parts is when the parts are in alinement in the shoe to enable the last to withstand the pressures and strains exerted on it through the enveloping shoe by Serial No. 97,402. (No model.)

various machines used in the course of manufacture.

In carrying out my improvement in this class of lasts followers, tree-feet, and the like-I prefer to form the lower portion of the top recess 3 with the chamber 6, Within which the unconfined head portion of the stiff bow-spring 7 is free to move wheneither the heel part or fore part is tipped upward, the arms 8 and 9 of spring 7 being secured, respectively, to the heel part and fore part, so as to permanently connect said parts. Spring 7 is so tempered that its arms 8 and 9 tend to spring apart after compression, the tension of the spring normally holding the fore part and heel part in alinement and with a very considerable amount of force for most purposes. When, for example, the heel part is tipped upwardly, the spring is compressed and the upper part of the heel part moves toward the upper inner end of the fore part. IVhen the tipped-up heel part is released, the spring pushes the heel part downwardly into alinement with the fore part. At such times the wearing strain on the spring is pretty well distributed through the head portion of the spring, and as such head moves freely within the chamber 6 the durability and practical effectiveness of the spring are well maintained. The arms of the spring may be secured to the fore part and heel part in various ways without departure from my invention; but I prefer to have the extremities of the arms 8 and 9 insorted in and interlocked with the fore part and heel part. To this end the extremities are bent, for example, downwardly, as at 10 and 11, and the inner end walls of the fore part and heel part are each provided with recesses of a shape corresponding to the shape of the bent extremities 10 and 11, which are inserted tightly in said recesses. The width of spring 7 is preferably less than the Width of the last. Fasteners 12 may also be used to secure the spring in place.

It is desirable that the last should shorten when either part is turned up in order that the last may be the more readily removed from the shoe and that when either the fore part or heel part is tipped up the tipped part should move on a fixed center which is preferably in or above the line of pressure tending to collapse the last under endwise pressures. (See Tylers United States Patent No. 601,622, of March 29, 1898.) The fixed center mentioned is conveniently provided in my last by two circular plugs 13 13, each secured at a side of the head portion of the spring 7. To conveniently eflect this, the chamber 6 and the plugreceiving spaces are formed by boring through the last transversely from side to side, and the plug-receiving spaces are simply those portions of chamber 6 which are at each side of the spring 7 The plugs are made fast to either the fore part or heel part, preferably to the fore part at each side of spring 7, in any suitable manner, as by fastenings 14. Those walls 15 of chamber 6 to which the plugs are not secured are formed on a circle the center of which is the center of the plugs and contact with the opposing correspondingly curved surfaces 16 of the plugs, so that when the heel part is tipped and lowered it is guided by its sliding contact with the plugs and so moves in the arc of a circle the center of which is the lengthwise central axis of the plugs.

The outer ends of the plugs are best flush with the side surfaces of the last, so as to make the side surfaces of the last free from other recesses than the top recess. The contacting curved walls 15 and correspondingly-curved and therewith contacting surfaces of the opposed part constitute a means of guiding the fore part and heel part in relation to one another when either part is tipped up or moved down. To increase the efficiency of such guiding means, I prefer to countersink the ends of the transverse bore which forms chamber 6 and to provide the outer end of each plug with a circumferential shoulder 18, which is received in the countersink, the shoulders 18 overlapping the bottoms 19 of the countersinks, and thereby keeping the heel part (in the present instance) between said shoulders 18, which are clamp-guides in effect, the shanks of the plugs being fixed to the fore part with said shoulders in contact with said bottoms 19.

My invention may be embodied in various other forms, if desired.

In Fig. 3, showing a modification, the fore part and heel part are connected by the bowspring, the arms thereof being secured to the ends of said parts by fasteners and without interlocking with said parts.

What I claim is 1. The combination, in a transversely-divided last, of a fore part; a heel part; and a bow-spring one arm of which is inserted in and interlocked with the fore part; the other arm of which is inserted in and interlocked with the heel part; and the head portion of which extends downwardly toward the bottom of the last; said last being formed with a top recess and at the bottom thereof with a transverse chamber extending through the last; the head portion of the spring extending into said chamber and being free to flex therein, and of a width less than the length of said chamber; a pair of plugs in said chamber, one at each side of said spring, and each fixed to one of said parts, and each having a curved surface with which a correspondingly-curved surface of the other of said parts contacts; the spring acting to keep the fore part and heel part normally in alinement.

2. A last comprising a fore part and heel part with a bow-spring which permanently connects said parts and holds them normally in alinement; and fixed, guiding plugs, one on each side, of said spring, provided with beads overlapping one of said parts.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD S. BEACH.

Witnesses:

E. A. ALLEN, IsAAo GORDON. 

